A new community group is set to give people who are blind or have low vision from across the New England region a chance to connect with each other.
Vision Australia has established a new Client Support Group in Armidale, which it hopes will encourage people who are blind or have low vision to socialise and form what can be important support networks.
Vision Australia New England Coordinator of Volunteers, Sally Thompson said similar groups have been extremely successful in other locations and encourages anybody who is blind or has low vision to join up.
“Living with blindness or low vision can be an isolating experience for some people and we’ve seen these sorts of groups become a really great social outlet for people in other locations,” Sally said.
“The group meets once a month, so people don’t have to make a huge commitment, but it’s just a great way for our community to meet other people with common interests and experiences,” she said.
Along with physically getting out and about, Sally said these groups have shown to have other benefits for their members.
“Dealing with vision loss can be confronting, especially if people feel like they don’t have anyone to talk to who understands what they’re going through.
“The groups allow people who have similar lived experiences to come together and share their experiences and talk about the strategies or techniques they might use to overcome the challenges they face on a daily basis.”
Similarly, the group is also an opportunity for people to learn more about the specialist support services Vision Australia offers.
“Knowing what help is out there and how to go about accessing it can be difficult sometimes.”
“Across the region we offer a range of specialist services to support people to live active, safe and independent lives and we want people to know what to do if they think they need some help.”
The Armidale Client Support Group meets at 10am on the first Wednesday of the month in the Duval Room, Armidale City Bowling Club.
For more information, contact volunteer group coordinator Jeff Parker on 0423 567 841 or jeparker64@optusnet.com.au.